This is my first experience with Evaporust. It is definitely impressive stuff.

I think these gate flaps may be too far gone. I will try to buff them out, now that the rust and oxidation is gone. But I am skeptical.

Before
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After 12 hours
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After a couple of days in the tumbler with some Flitz. Clean, Evaporust, Tumble.

The images expose flaws, but to the eye, it looks really good. Besides, it's at the top of the playfield and you have to really look to see these pieces. I just started with these, because they were SO rusty and oxidized.

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Anybody use Rust Prevention Magic to prevent the rust from returning?

https://www.amazon.com/RPM-Rust-Prevention-Magic-oz/dp/B00ITVG8IK

It says it protects against rust without any oily residue. The only question I have is, "will it hold up to being whacked repeatedly by a 1-1/16" metal ball?"

Fascinating.

I needed to put an item into Evaporust. I only had a quart. So I dumped all I had into the smallest tupperware that the item would fit. It still wasn't completely submerged. I grabbed some spare/used pinballs (they were nicked but not rusty) and threw them in to make the level rise. It was just enough. I went back a couple hours later and my piece was done. But to my surprise, the balls had turned almost black.

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The balls in the little container show the condition of the used balls - and those were NOT in the evaporust. The balls on the paper towel were submerged for about 2-3 hours. As you can see, they are varying shades of charcoal.

Nothing else I have put into evaporust has changed color, or had any other undesirable side effect. WTF?

Has anybody else tried putting balls into evaporust? Has anybody seen any undesirable side effects like this with evaporust?

Sure enough. After an overnight stint in the tumbler, back to shiny silver.

Agreed. I'll keep one black. Maybe I'll throw it in a machine.

Yep. That was my concern.

BTW, I wanted to see if the black comes from the Evaporust reacting with something on the surface of the ball, instead of the stainless steel ball itself. So, after a polished the blackened ball back to a proper silver shine - I put it back in the Evaporust for another go. Sure enough, the black came back. I find this odd.

Here is the explanation from the Evaporust site:

The black film is carbon from the steel. Steel is composed of a combination of carbon and iron. In certain instances, steel will darken in color after rust has been removed from the surface of the metal. This is a natural phenomenon that chemists refer to as “carbon migration”. The carbon from the steel moves, or “migrates”, to the outer layer of the metal and settles into the pores. The removal of the rust (iron oxide) reduces the proportion of iron to carbon, leaving a higher concentration of carbon on the outer surface. This heavier layer of carbon could cause a darkening of the metal due to the attributes of the carbon. The darkening does not have an adverse affect on the metal. It merely represents the movement of carbon from the interior of the metal to the exterior of the metal.

Since Evapo-Rust® is a highly effective rust remover, it stimulates the carbon migration process. Evapo-Rust®is not alone in creating the carbon migration effect. Other rust removal treatments will also result in carbon migration and a darkening of the metal. The primary difference between Evapo-Rust® and the acid based treatments is that Evapo-Rust® will not harm or weaken the metal. Unlike other treatments, Evapo-Rust® will not darken products made with low carbon steel.

The moral of the story...don't put your balls in Evaporust, any longer than necessary. <insert joke here>